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Callahan: Bill Belichick, Patriots finding joy in Germany amid lost season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany — Bill Belichick sauntered into a packed press conference Friday on little sleep, with dozens of eager reporters spread over six rows of chairs and close to 20 cameras armed and ready at the back.The Patriots had landed hours earlier on a redeye from the U.S. Belichick took his seat behind a microphone on a small stage and stared down at a reporter in the first row. He was puzzled.“Pretzels for lunch?” Belichick asked. “Seriously?”Then, he beamed. He joked. He laughed.Belichick fielded questions and supplied thoughtful answers for nearly 20 minutes, even if those answers meandered to the same dead ends they usually do. At the end, he even apologized for a lackluster response.Twice! Belichick smiled again. And he wasn’t alone.After their practice Friday at the DFB campus, home to the German National Soccer Team, six Patriots players spoke in the same media room that briefly housed an unusually loose Belichick. Maybe they were all punch...

Friday’s high school tournament scores and highlights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

ROUNDUPFIELD HOCKEYIzzy Adams set up Kate Schneider for the game-winning goal in the second overtime as No. 1 Walpole (20-1) edged eighth-seeded Bishop Feehan 1-0 in a Div. 1 state quarterfinal contest. … Emmy Johnson scored twice in the fourth quarter as No. 3 Wachusett (16-1-4) rallied to defeat sixth-seeded Central Catholic 4-2. The Raiders (16-3-1) led 2-1 after three quarters as Kerri Finneran scored twice. … Ella Sewall scored twice, and Bella DiFiore added the third goal as two-time defending champion No. 2 Andover (18-2) defeated seventh-seeded Algonquin, 3-0.Sam Ruddick, Haylen Wilson and Siena Brackett all scored, while Becca Kardoos recorded the shutout as No. 4 Hingham (18-2-1) defeated fifth-seeded Minnechaug 3-0 in a Div. 2 state quarterfinal contest. … Shea Larkee scored twice, while Ava Hines added the other goal as No. 2 Norwood (19-2) defeated 10th-seeded Doherty, 3-0. Ava O’Neil stopped all seven shots to get the shutout for the Mustangs.Khloe Schultz scored the g...

NFL notes: How many Patriots are guaranteed to return in 2024? Well, not many

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

Like most bad teams, the Patriots’ future is cloudy.Head coach? On the hot seat.Quarterback? Fans are calling for his replacement.But what about their core?It seems few players, including rookies Christian Gonzalez and Demario Douglas, can be counted as foundational pieces of the Patriots’ future. Building out, it’s hard to know what other bricks could be laid upon that foundation.Basically, who among the Patriots is guaranteed to return in 2024?The questions start immediately at quarterback.Mac Jones is no lock to start next year. Jones may one day prove to be a starting-caliber quarterback, maybe even an above average one. But it’s unlikely he’ll do so in New England.The Patriots’ infrastructure has failed him the last two seasons, when Jones’ physical shortcomings have been compounded by mental mistakes and little help. The Pats must decide by May whether to pick up the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie deal that would keep him und...

Patriots-Colts preview: How Mac Jones and Bill Belichick can win in Germany

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

Willkommen!The Patriots will kick off their first international game in six years Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany. At 2-7, the Pats are officially fighting for pride against an upstart Indianapolis team (4-5) that has eyes on a surprise Wild Card berth. The Patriots have historically owned the Colts, who are slated as 1.5-point favorites despite playing behind backup quarterback Gardner Minshew.Last year, the Pats bludgeoned Indy 26-3, when the Colts fielded another backup quarterback, Sam Ehlinger. What will it take to replicate that result overseas?Here’s what to watch for Sunday:When the Patriots runRhamondre Stevenson is finally finding his old form, breaking seven tackles over the last two weeks and rushing for a 64-yard touchdown against the Commanders. Stevenson found a massive hole behind emerging rookie right guard Sidy Sow and tackle Mike Onwenu on his touchdown. Bill Belichick said this week the Pats are comfortable with Onwenu remaining at right tackle, where he’...

Somber bugles and bells mark Armistice Day around the globe as wars drown out peace messages

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

YPRES, Belgium (AP) — With somber bugles and bells from Australia to western Europe’s battlefields of World War I, people around the globe on Saturday remembered the slaughter and losses just over a century ago that was supposed to be “the war to end all wars.” Yet the rumble of tanks and the screeching of incoming fire from Ukraine to Gaza pierced the solemnity of the occasion and the notion that humankind could somehow circumvent violence to settle its worst differences. “This time last year, our thoughts were focused on Ukraine. Today, our minds are full with the terrible images emerging from Israel and Gaza. These are just two of the more than 100 armed conflicts in the world today,” said Benoit Mottrie, the head of the Last Post Association in western Belgium’s Ypres, where some of the fiercest and deadliest World War I battles were fought.During a ceremony with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and dozens of dignitaries, Mottrie expressed the sense of powerlessness ...

4 injured, 1 arrested following collision on Gardiner Expressway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

Four people were injured and one person was arrested in a single-vehicle collision on the Gardiner Expressway on Saturday morning.Police were called to the scene at approximately 3:03 a.m. on the westbound Gardiner Expressway at Jameson Avenue.One person was taken to a trauma centre with life-threatening injuries while the other three were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. One person was arrested on scene.The Gardiner Expressway westbound is closed while police investigate.

How researchers, farmers and brewers want to safeguard beer against climate change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

MOUNT ANGEL, Ore. (AP) — On a bright day this fall, tractors crisscrossed Gayle Goschie’s farm about an hour outside Portland, Oregon. Goschie is in the beer business — a fourth-generation hops farmer. Fall is the off-season, when the trellises are bare, but recently, her farming team has been adding winter barley, a relatively newer crop in the world of beer, to their rotation, preparing barley seeds by the bucketful.In the face of human-caused climate change impacting water access and weather patterns in the Willamette Valley — a region known for hops growing — Goschie will need all the new strategies the farm can get to sustain what they produce and provide to local and larger breweries alike.All of a sudden, climate change “was not coming any longer,” Goschie said, “it was here.”Climate change is anticipated to only further the challenges producers are already seeing in two key beer crops, hops and barley. Some hops and barley growers in the U.S. say they’ve al...

SWAT response in south Austin, APD confirms shooting involved officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department is responding to a SWAT situation in south Austin Saturday morning in south Austin.APD confirmed there was an officer-involved shooting in the 9300 block of Bernoulli Drive.It is unconfirmed if there have been any injuries connected to the incident.Austin Police said a public information officer was responding, and KXAN has sent a photojournalist to the scene.Officers have closed West Gate Boulevard between Davis Lane and Slaughter Lane. This is a developing story. Check back with KXAN for updates.

Sturgeon stocking in Red Lake River marks new phase in recovery efforts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

Ongoing efforts to re-establish lake sturgeon populations in the Red River Basin have entered a new phase, with the recent stocking of lake sturgeon fingerlings into two key rivers within the basin.According to Nick Kludt, Red River fisheries specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Detroit Lakes, stocking efforts from 2002 up until 2022 largely focused on lakes within the basin. That included Otter Tail Lake, Detroit Lake, Round Lake and Red and White Earth lakes, Kludt said, the latter two in cooperation with the Red Lake and White Earth nations.Nick Kludt, Red River fisheries specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, stocks fingerling lake sturgeon into the Red Lake River in Crookston on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. Staff from the DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stocked the fingerlings at the Central Park public access in Crookston. (Deborah Rose / Minnesota DNR)On Sept. 12, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department stocked 1,000...

Foggy start to the weekend, soon clear skies and seasonal temps

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:10 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- We could see a little fog develop over the next couple of hours. Sunny to partly cloudy skies with highs in the upper 50s Clouds increase this afternoon and evening and then decrease overnight. Lows around 40. Sunday will be a very typical November day. Sunshine and highs in the low 60s Next week looks dry, with temperatures in the mid-60s.